When You Simply Must Locate Someone, the Cell Phone Ping Works Wonders

When You Simply Must Locate Someone, the Cell Phone Ping Works Wonders

Thanks to TV when the public thinks of bail bondsmen they think of Dog, the Bounty Hunter. The people who track down fugitives are more aptly called recovery agents. And International Investigators works with recovery agents as they go about their job.

The major obstacle confronting recovery agents is that the person they are seeking is trying their best to hide. And they could be hiding anywhere. But with the investigative techniques available today, International Investigators is able to locate many of the fugitives for the recovery agents. We are definitely a resource they count on to “get their man (or woman).”

One of our techniques is “Pinging cell phones.” A ping tracks the location of a cell phone by tracking the last signal. To actuate a ping, there must be a legitimate purpose. Once permission is obtained, a signal is sent out to the phone and then the carrier is able to track the location of the phone through cellular tower triangulation.

Pings are not immediately ascertainable, but within a few hours, the general location (sometimes as specific as a particular address) can be identified.

One case handled by International Investigators involved a phone that was located in Portland, Oregon. The fugitive was running from Kentucky and no known connections would have led the recovery agent to Oregon. Because the distance was so great, the possibility of the fugitive having left the ping location was high, but two days after providing the information to the recovery agent, the fugitive was apprehended and on his way back to Kentucky. For this recovery agent, there was nothing like a ping witness to this fugitive’s whereabouts.

The forensic cell tower evidence is not generally needed after, but the entire process is documented in a report for future use.

Where the person goes, their cell phone is not far behind, in fact, it’s usually glued to their hand, in their pocket, or vibrating in a handbag. And, professional investigators have access to data bases and resources to obtain cell phone numbers for every use. So even if the cell phone number is unknown, we will be able to find it if it is registered in their name.

Pinging cell phones may sound funny, but it is a sound strategy to find the truth – and that’s what we do!